Adams is a graduate of the Educational Opportunity Center as well as the college’s Chemical Dependency Counseling program in 1997. He subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree at the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare and two master’s degrees from Springfield College in organizational management and leadership and mental health counseling.

“I’ve always loved Hudson Valley, and I appreciated the strong academic foundation it gave me. When the opportunity came to head up the program, I had to pursue it,” Adams said.

Most recently, Adams served as the clinical director for a 35-bed adolescent residential center in Saint Petersburg, Florida where he was responsible for clinical programming and case management for residents and outpatients. He was a lecturer and adjunct faculty member at Springfield College’s Tampa-based School of Human Services. Adams also has ties to the Capital Region human services community having worked in administrative and clinical positions at Saint Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center and Hope House earlier in his career.

Adams replaces Karen Nash, who will return to full-time teaching following 21 years as department chair. "For me, the time is right to pursue my passion for teaching, and I leave the position of department chair with complete confidence in Ted's academic leadership," Nash said.

“My time in the Human Services department (while a student) was a profound experience for me,” Adams said. “It was a very welcoming and supportive environment, and many of the people who were there at that time are still teaching today, including Karen Nash.”

Adams said he hopes to build on the strong reputation the program already has in the regional human services community and would like to reach out to a population of under-served potential students “to show them that higher education is an option for them.”

Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers 75 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of more than 13,000 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training.